Karl-Heinz Frieser (born 1949 in Pressath, Bavaria) is a German military historian and a retired colonel of the German Army.
Frieser joined the German Army in 1970 and started studying political science as well as history in 1978. In 1981 he acquired a doctorate degree with his thesis Die deutschen Kriegsgefangenen in der Sowjetunion und das Nationalkomitee "Freies Deutschland" (German prisoners of war in the Soviet Union and the National Committee for a Free Germany). After that, he was one of the principal researchers in the German Armed Forces Military History Research Office (Militärgeschichtliches Forschungsamt or MGFA). He published an account of the German war against France, denouncing the Blitzkrieg myth, which was translated into several languages (The Blitzkrieg Legend: The 1940 Campaign in the West). [1] He was also one of the principal researchers for the German semi-official history project Germany and the Second World War . [2] [3]
In 2009 he retired from the MGFA.
Army Group South was the name of one of three German Army Groups during World War II.
Army Group Centre was the name of two distinct strategic German Army Groups that fought on the Eastern Front in World War II. The first Army Group Centre was created during the planning of Operation Barbarossa, Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union, as one of the three German Army formations assigned to the invasion.
Army Group North was the name of three separate army groups of the Wehrmacht during World War II. Its rear area operations were organized by the Army Group North Rear Area.
Joachim Hoffmann was a German historian who was the academic director of the German Armed Forces Military History Research Office.
The 12th Panzer Division was an armoured division in the German Army, established in 1940.
The German 20th Infantry Division was an infantry division of Nazi Germany.
The Crimean offensive, known in German sources as the Battle of the Crimea, was a series of offensives by the Red Army directed at the German-held Crimea. The Red Army's 4th Ukrainian Front engaged the German 17th Army of Army Group South Ukraine, which consisted of Wehrmacht and Romanian formations. The battles ended with the evacuation of the Crimea by the Germans. German and Romanian forces suffered considerable losses during the evacuation.
A first 277th Infantry Division was ordered to form on May 22, 1940, as part of the 10th mobilisation wave, but this order was rescinded after the French Surrender. A new 277th Infantry Division was formed in Croatia on November 17, 1943, as part of the 22nd mobilisation wave, the division was destroyed in the Battle of Normandy in August 1944. A third, 277th Volksgrenadier Division was formed on September 4, 1944, in Hungary by redesignation of the newly formed 574th Volksgrenadier Division of the 32nd mobilisation wave. In 1945 the division entered U.S. captivity in the Ruhr Pocket.
Jürgen Wagner was a Brigadeführer in the Waffen-SS during World War II, the commander of the SS Division Nederland and was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves.
Army Group C was an army group of the German Wehrmacht during World War II. In its first deployment between 1939 and 1941, its main assignment was the defense of the Franco-German border during the Phony War and the Western Campaign, after which it was moved to East Prussia to become Army Group North. When Army Group C was recreated from 1943 to 1945, it was used to coordinate German forces on the Italian front.
Job-Wilhelm Henning Dietrich von Witzleben was a German army officer and a military historian.
The 95th Infantry Division was a German division in World War II. It was formed on 19 September 1939 in Wildflecken and Hammelburg.
Hermann Leopold Ludwig Eugen Hans Heinz Bonatz was a German naval officer during World War II. He was most notable for being chief of B-Dienst until January 1944. B-Dienst was Division III Radio Intelligence of the Naval Intelligence Service of the Oberkommando der Marine (OKM). This division dealt with the interception and recording, decoding and analysis of the enemy - in particular British - radio communications.
Wolfram Wette is a German military historian and peace researcher. He is an author or editor of over 40 books on the history of Nazi Germany, including the seminal Germany and the Second World War series from the German Military History Research Office (MGFA).
Gerhard Schreiber was a German military historian who specialised in the German–Italian relations during the Nazi era. He was a widely published author on the history of World War II and Nazi Germany. Schreiber was a long-term researcher at the Military History Research Office (MGFA) and contributor to two volumes of the seminal series Germany and the Second World War from the MGFA.
The First Donbas strategic offensive, also known as the Mius-Donets Offensive, was a military campaign fought in the Donets Basin from 17 July to 2 August 1943, between the German and Soviet armed forces on the Eastern Front of World War II. The Germans contained the Soviet offensive in its northern portion after initial gains and pushed the southern portion back to its starting point.
The LIX Army Corps, initially known as the Higher Command for Special Deployment LIX was an army corps of the German Wehrmacht during World War II. The formation was active between 1940 and 1945.
The 371st Infantry Division, was an infantry division of the German Army during World War II, active from 1942 to 1945 in two separate instances.
The 367th Infantry Division was a German infantry division in World War II.
The 383rd Infantry Division was formed during the winter of 1941/42, as part of the 18th wave. All infantry divisions of this wave, numbers 383 to 389, were referred to as “Rhine Gold” divisions.